Interview: Singer Luiza Girardello Relearns Her Voice After Cancer in WORLD ABLAZE

Luiza Girardello is an award-winning Brazilian singer-songwriter based in New York whose music blends Brazilian rhythms, jazz, and alternative rock. The singer’s new album, World Ablaze, is deeply influenced by her cancer journey and what she describes as a near-death experience, exploring themes of survival, identity, spirituality, and resilience.

A Berklee College of Music graduate, Luiza won first place in the Jazz/Blues category at the 24th New England Songwriting Competition for her original song “I See You.” An ovarian cancer survivor, educator, and photographer, Luiza draws on her experiences living between Brazil and the U.S. to create deeply personal music about identity, resilience, and belonging.

Read a conversation with Luiza about the new album, which was just released on August 14.

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What was it like singing for the first time after chemotherapy?

I had an adverse reaction to one of the medications I was on during my last round of chemo. I had tremors and would lose control of my hands, slur speech and lose control of my voice. Trying to sing during that time was extremely frustrating. The main way in which I made music, and the one instrument that always came naturally to me, was suddenly inaccessible. It took me a while to understand how much it really disorganized how I used my voice, and once I did I went searching for speech and voice therapy. It felt like relearning it, almost like reverse engineering of something I had never thought about to that level of detail.

But I've come to believe this experience made me a better singer in the long run.

The kind of music education available to me growing up in Brazil was very different than most musicians that grew up with access to music programs experience. And I had never learned how to properly practice. This experience changed that, and I became a lot more aware of the voice as an instrument.

Having gone through this has also made me a better vocal coach, which is a very significant part of my professional life, and something I love doing. I think I can relate to beginner students who are building technique from scratch in a level that most vocal coaches can't, for the simple fact that most of them have been singing from a really early age. Building vocal technique as an adult, when you're set in your ways of using your voice is very different than doing so as a kid, when you're learning to use your voice as well as your body, closer to a blank slate.

Was there anything that helped you get through the process of relearning how to sing?

Just how much I missed the comfort I had singing and being able to express so much. When abilities are just available to us, we take them for granted. I now knew both sides of that experience and longed to go back to have that instrument available. It also influenced my control of my speaking voice, so I think I might've looked for speech therapy regardless of wanting to sing again.

What was it like putting this album together?

What ended up becoming this album came about as my senior recital in music school. I was getting a double major in Vocal Performance and Songwriting. The recital was only required for the performance major, so a lot of students will choose to work on existing repertoire, and I considered doing the same. But I had a voice calling me to work on my originals. Although I had years of experience working with rock cover bands, Jazz sets and Brazilian music, I hadn't ever performed a full show with my original music. So that was a fully new experience.

Music is obviously a communal art form, but I always had a sense that I had to do everything by myself to be considered a "real musician". Perfectionism also didn't help, and when I decided to take that project on, especially with a strict deadline, I finally understood I had to surround myself with people who were better than me at the things that weren't my focus.

I had just finished a project with another student, João Vitor Costa Dias. He asked me to record vocals for an original song he'd written called "Recomeçar". I really loved his approach in giving me and the pianist feedback how he'd get his ideas across in such a supportive way. Other than the fact that his original was gorgeous. After that experience I decided to ask him to be the musical director and arranger for my recital. He also ended up playing drums on it.

A couple of months after the performance and my graduation, as an international student I was in between visa statuses and although I was legally aloud to stay in the US, I couldn't leave and reenter, and couldn't legally work. Since I had an unknown amount of time ahead of me without a lot of prospects, I decided to take the fully-rehearsed band that played on the recital and go into the studio together. It was never meant to be an album, but I'm really happy with the result.

What are some of your musical inspirations?

My musical references are possibly a bit too varied. As a teenager I would fluctuate between the DIY local rock and metal shows in my city, while at the same time studying classical voice. I started playing with a progressive rock and metal band with friends, but it always felt like I was in between worlds that couldn't meet. As open and inviting I think my teacher would've been to it, I didn't feel like I could bring the sounds I used with my band into her lessons. And the textures I used for the band were pretty far from the operatic vocals metal bands like Nightwish are known to blend with distorted guitars.

I've kept listening and pulling from these two universes that shaped my musicality. As I got a little older I also started getting into Jazz and finding ways to connect as a performer with the Brazilian music that I grew up in. All of these are present in the music I make. A professor at college once joked I was the lovechild of Astrud Gilberto and Kurt Cobain.

Do you have any other upcoming projects you’d like to tell us about?

My debut album that has been over six years in the making, if you count [from] when the first songs were written up to [when] the release is out on August 14th. I'm also planning a few local performances in New York in the next few months, as well as more releases and tours in the works.

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Listen to World Ablaze on Spotify here

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